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Security and Privacy Plague Mobile Web's Forward Motion

A new article from eMarketer examines concerns that consumers have expressed about mobile - chief among them, privacy and security. 

by Jimmy Marks

It used to be that "The Internet" was something you used in your home. You had to have a computer connected to the web via cable. Then came the idea that the Internet was a practical business tool - email revolutionizes communication! High-speed Internet makes websites more robust! Wi-Fi is the new guard - the web without wires, in every Hotel, Airport, Starbucks and McDonald's in your neighborhood. 

Mobile is the latest wave on the shore. The same Internet that used to demand that we buy large tower CPUs and big monitors now only requires us to have a smartphone and our thumbs. But there's something troubling about that - it's the same Internet. Which means the same problems and the same fears. 

Take a look at this chart from eMarketer. There are concerns among smartphone users about apps that track their various patterns (you've already heard about the iPhone tracking issue to be sure). Smartphones and tablets emit and receive data - what does that data say about the user? Is the picture flattering? 

When it comes to moving your financial institution forward with mobile, how are you allaying concerns about security? Did you do a good job of getting your customers to trust your OLB and website? If not, try to recover the fumble for mobile - it could make or break you in the long run. 

 

Is there an App for you?

by Ron Daly

I was linked a story about iPhone apps from the CES in Vegas. The big idea from this year's conference? 

Have an App or hang it up.

Not just an iPhone App (though one panelist in the article says that's square one for your company), but apps for Blackberry, the Palm Pre, Google's Android platform, and any other app-supporting mobile phone. Why? 

For one, more is being done on handhelds these days. More email, more video, more music, everything. Data from August of last year shows smartphone sales have jumped 27% over the previous year. More phone companies are rolling out new smartphone models just as more tech companies are rolling out new platforms. Google just debuted the Nexus One, their own phone running their own platform. The Internet is going to be around all the time - in your pocket or at your desk. 

The other reason this seems to be worth paying attention to is the data from this infographic from GigaOM.com on the "App Store Economy". The graphic is worth a look, but some of the highlights: 

• Average price paid for an iPhone app - $2.70
• The App Store raked in $250 Million in revenues in December alone
• App store users downloaded about 4.8 apps each on average

That folks are willing spend almost $3 each on applications for their phone is mind blowing, but they must be doing it to fill some gap in their phone's functionality or just make things they do in the day-to-day easier. What gaps could your company be filling? 

What's your App? What does it do? How does it help? What gap does it fill? 

Sounds like we'd all better figure that out fast, if we're going off the desk and into people's hands.

How Big Is The Internet? A Visual Guide

by Jimmy Marks

Came across this diagram of "A day in the Internet", a visual representation of all the information that gets processed, added, and moved through the Internet every day.

The diagram is 500 pixels wide and 1600 or so pixels long, so putting it here is tough, but here's a clip of it that links to the full image. 

A lot of interesting information shared here. Some thoughts this generated for me: 

- We get one Guyana's-worth of new Facebook users every day. Theoretically, everyone could connect with anyone else. I just wonder why there aren't as many people "follow-spamming" me there as on Twitter. Maybe it's because Facebook has actions other than type/follow/unfollow?

- We send enough data across the mobile phone carrier infrastructure every day to fill 1.7 million blu-ray discs? That's bananas. I'm starting to wonder if, in the next few years, you'll be able to call phones "phones" anymore. They're just tiny computers these days, getting your email, playing games, taking pictures - calls are one slice of a great big functionality pie.

- Rob once remarked that there was "signal to noise ratio" to consider when reading/digesting information online. Sometimes it's helpful and interesting, sometimes it's a list of things someone ate for breakfast. If each day, bloggers write the equivalent of 19 years of newspaper - the New York Times, no less - how much of that is recycled? Or worth the time it takes to read?

Hopefully, this is some food for thought for you, too! Talk to us about it in the comments section.

 (image, story from Gizmodo)

SMTP vs. SMS: What’s best for text marketing?

No doubt about it: We live in a mobile world. A recent PEW Internet study (The Mobile Difference, March 25, 2009) found that 39 percent of consumers have increased their use of and improved their attitudes about mobile communication devices. This is good news for savvy e-marketers who understand the unique characteristics of reaching consumers effectively via cell phones or other wireless devices. But in the area of text marketing, a debate has been brewing: Is it best to send messages to consumers via SMTP or SMPP?

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) was developed primarily as a method to send email messages. Using SMTP, marketers basically send emails to cell phone numbers. To consumers, the messages look just like texts. And like emails, there are no fees for delivering SMTP messages.

Using SMPP (Short Message Peer-to-Peer Protocol) to exchange SMS (Short Message Service) messages, marketers send true text messages, routed through cell phone carriers. There is a fee charged for each message sent.

Text Me from the Other Side

by Jimmy Marks

I was browsing the DigitalMedia Newsreel on the right hand column this morning and I saw a story: 

"Bury Me with my Cell Phone" from MSNBC

It turns out that more and more people are being buried with their cells, Blackberrys, iPhones, Game Boys, etc. Trust me, I get leaving things in caskets. When we buried my grandma, my mom added pictures of my grandpa and the grandkids to the casket. Mom also put in some old letters and, if I remember correctly, a little bible. 

These were the things that were important to my grandmother - God, family, and friendship. But I can't see anyone having the same emotional attachment to an LG enV2 (I only mention this phone because it's the phone I have...I like it, but still).

The article linked here goes on to talk about a man who was buried with his phone. His wife put his number on the tombstone and continues to pay his bill so people can leave him voicemails. 

Take a moment and think about that.

If you're like me, you came up with two conclusions: 

1) Mobile is becoming not just a tool, but a part of life. It's taken the place of some key communication methods and it has combined dozens of technologies that only a few years ago were disparate. Thus, we think we can't live without it...or die without it. 

2) Folks these days that are having trouble letting go of their grief are finding out they don't have to... technologically anyway.

Consider this a binding document: when I'm gone, don't put a phone anywhere near my coffin. Or at LEAST put it on silent so it doesn't bug me. 

A Drop In the Bucket (or, in this case, Kettle)

by Ron Daly 

I do my best not to get sappy around this time of year, but I was touched to read this story from CNN.com (click here to read) about the Salvation Army coming to the rescue of a couple in need. The story talks at length about their health care bills being the reason they couldn't make their house payment and about how after years of donating to the Salvation Army, the couple went there for help. 

It's nice to see that people are still willing to remember the spirit of giving, even if it's only a few cents. Cents, I might add, that turned into $118 Million last year.

But what really impressed me were the details of the Salvation Army's use of text messaging and Twitter to get people to donate. When you text the SA's "Online Red Kettle" on your cell phone, you get to donate via your phone bill. Following the SA's kettle on Twitter keeps you abreast of important information from the 143-year-old organization. 

set cell phones to stun: the gathering storm

Ron Daly presents a new segment dealing exclusively with mobile interaction.

When we first started this blog, our goal was to approach new developments in media and address how much impact they'll have on your day-to-day. One of my personal favorites was Greg's post about the changing face of cellular phones, complete with a video history of the one thing that will ALWAYS ruin your movie-going experience.

That said, I was startled to see this article from eMarketer which suggests that between this year and the next, mobile marketing will double to $2.8 billion. With more attention payed to mobile interaction, I'm reminded of the advent of online marketing and business. More money being pushed into mobile advertising and interaction will, most likely, mean the following: